Friday, January 28, 2011

FBF: Frog & Toad (Switching it up)

Normally I do a FMF, meaning Family Movie Fridays, but today I decided to go a different route: FBF  (Family Book Friday).  And apparently my Friday posts are rather "official" & "heavy" for some readers (ahem, Seth & Samantha, ahem).  So I am keeping it light(er) this time around.
     Okay, so I must say that I love Frog & ToadFrog & Toad is a book series by Arnold Lobel that chronicles the simple, yet amusing, adventures of two British-esque amphibians who are best friends.  The two go about their daily business, but in two very different ways.  Frog is the more mature, if you will, straight forward character; whereas, Toad goes about things in odd and rather round about ways.  I recently found out there was a clay-mation animated series about the two characters created in the 1980s, which I'll talk more about in a minute.
     This is a wonderful family book and is great for first time readers.  The suggested reading age for this book is 4-8 years old, but if your baby is like mine, he or she likes to listen to full sentences rather than stare at pictures while you read two words.  I read one particular book from the series called Frog & Toad All Year to Judah at least every other day and it makes me laugh out loud every time.  My favorite story from within this book is called "Ice Cream," from their Summer-time escapade of trying to enjoy a sweet treat on a hot day.  I could not find a good YouTube.com clip of this story being read aloud, so I will leave it to you do discover this amusing tale for yourself.
     Now, about their animated series,  I would not have chosen the voice actors the producers did, but I will say, the animation is quite good for the '80s.  Furthermore, it is full of the classic F&T humor that is presented throughout the books.
     The videos and books are short enough to capture the attention span of the youngest minds, and both are loaded with positive thematic development.  Whether the plot is discussing bravery, persistence,or the value of friendship, the stories always end in an uplifting manner, like in the episode "Dragons & Giants."

1 comment:

  1. Not Heavy just technical lol -Samantha :)

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